1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a movable member to assist connection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-97105 discloses a connector that has a female housing, a male housing, a lever and a moving plate. The male housing has a receptacle that is configured to receive the female housing and male terminal fittings project into the receptacle. The receptacle is formed with escaping grooves for receiving cam followers that project from outer surfaces of the female housing. The lever an operable portion and arms extend from opposite ends of the operable portion. The arms are supported rotatably on outer surfaces of the male housing. Cam grooves are formed in the inner surfaces of the arms and engage with the cam followers of the female housing. The housings are connected and separated by rotating the lever while the cam followers are in the cam grooves.
The moving plate is disposed in the receptacle and is formed with positioning holes. The positioning holes receive the leading ends of the male terminal fittings before the housings are connected and align the male terminal fittings. Cam followers are formed on the outer lateral edges of the moving plate and project out through cut grooves of the receptacle. The cam followers of the moving plate engage cam grooves formed in the inner surfaces of the arms. Thus, the moving plate moves towards the back of the receptacle as the housings are connected by the lever, and returns towards the opening of the receptacle as the housings are separated.
The lever of the connector of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-97105 requires cam grooves for engaging the cam followers of the female housing and cam grooves for engaging the cam followers of the moving plate. The cam grooves must be designed to avoid interference (overlapping and/or crossing). Therefore, the degree of design freedom is reduced.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to increase the degree of freedom for designing cam grooves for a lever with two kinds of cam grooves for a housing and a moving plate.